The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has banned two top Olympic weightlifters from “Average Broz’s Gymnasium” in Las Vegas, Nevada. Patrick Mendes and Joshua Gilbert have been banned by the anti-steroid organization after testing positive for prohibited substances. Neither athlete tested positive for anabolic steroids which are often associated with sports involving power and strength. However, many non-steroidal drugs also have performance-enhancing effects and/or are used to mask the use of anabolic steroids. [Read more…]

Bulgarian Olympic weightlifting champion Galabin Boevski was sentenced to nine years and four months in prison after being convicted of international drug trafficking. Boevski was arrested on October 25, 2011 at the Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo (Brazil) after attempting to board the plane with eight kilograms of cocaine. Boevski was headed to Bulgaria via Spain where the product was estimated to be valued at $500,000 on the streets of European cities. [Read more…]

Turkish weightlifter Nurcan Taylan tested positive for anabolic steroids during anti-doping protocols in October 2011. The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) tested national weightlifters in Turkey during this time. The Olympic, World and European weightlifting champion disputed the results of this sample and requested analysis of a second sample. [Read more…]